I loved the Grapes Inn so much I decided to draw it

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Many Derby folk have their own reasons for remembering the Grapes Inn on Green Lane with affection. For some, it was the beer. But for retired professional illustrator Reg Newcombe it was the pub's interesting frontage that captured his heart.

Reg Newcombe's pencil sketch of the buildings at the bottom of Green Lane, including the Grapes Inn, before it was demolished in the 1970s

The recent Bygones article describing Shirley Bailey-Willis' experiences of growing up at The Grapes Inn, Green Lane (April 14), took me right back to 1955 - the year I returned to England after spending two years abroad doing my National Service.

After I was demobbed and reunited with my family, I felt I needed a good night out on the town in Derby - and The Grapes Inn happened to be the first pub that I visited.

It was great to be home and back in the culture I knew so well - although I do seem to remember that the beer I consumed in The Grapes that night was rather disappointing.

Throughout my National Service, I had been posted in Germany, so I had been used to drinking some really good quality German beers. Initially, I was stationed at Bad Oeynhausen, where the Rhine Army headquarters was based, before being moved eventually to Munchen Gladbach. Bad Oeynhausen wasn't far from Bad Nauheim, where Elvis Presley was posted for his spell in the armed forces.

By the time I visited The Grapes, I believe that Shirley's family, the Worralls, had moved on and I think the brewery, originally Offilers, had also changed. In those days, there was little choice of ales; it was either bitter or mild.

I remember being quite intrigued to visit The Grapes that night as, for some years, it had caught my eye. But I must admit that my interest primarily was less about The Grapes' appeal as a hostelry than a fascination for the building itself.

The pub's classical frontage always seemed very attractive to me, with its arched windows and ornate lamp over the front entrance. Another very unusual feature for the time was the iron gate which stood open during the day but secured the front of the pub when it was closed at night.

Before being draughted into the Army in 1953, I studied architectural drawing at the Joseph Wright School of Art, which was situated at the top of Green Lane. Our lecturer's name was Mr Balden, or "Batchy" Bladen as we called him, but he was well liked by the students because he used to take us on outings into the city centre to draw Derby's more interesting buildings in situ. Although we committed many buildings to pen and paper, The Grapes Inn was not among them.

Reg Newcombe pictured at the Alexandra pub, Siddals Road, with landlady Flo Fox in the 1970s

It was a good 20 years later, one fine Sunday morning in the early 1970s, that I decided to make my own sketch of The Grapes. The whole area around the bottom of Green Lane had become increasingly run down in the 1960s and I was afraid that if I didn't do it then, it would be too late and, like many other older Derby buildings, it would be demolished to make space for modern, more lucrative retail developments.

I'm glad that I did because it wasn't too long before it was gone.

Throughout the late 1950s and 60s, I did pop into The Grapes several times for a drink but I think its best days were over. It never seemed busy and the atmosphere had became rather gloomy. After all, it is people who make pubs isn't it, not the architecture or decor? I only ever visited in the daytime, so it may have been more vibrant in the evening, but it felt like that part of Derby was becoming more and more run down as the 1970s approached.

I certainly can't claim to have ever been a regular at The Grapes but I do have very fond memories of it. I knew it very well by sight and there was always something about its frontage that caught my attention and, over time, worked its way itself into my affection.

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